Vehicle door latch handle structure



May 17, 1938. E. CLINKER f 425117943 VEHICLE DOOR LATCH HANDLE STRUCTURE Filed DSC. 5, 1956 Patented May 17, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Lake E. Clinker, Toledo, Ohio Application December 5, 1936, Serial No. 114,408

3 Claims.

This invention relates to door latches for vehicles such as automobiles, but more particularly to door handle structures of the type in which the handle is adapted to be moved against the side of the door in a position substantially flush with the outer surface of the door and an object is to produce a sturdy and reliable handle structure of thischaracter by which the handle in position of use is held against wabbling but which can begreadily and conveniently forced inwardly against the side of the door either by a person on the outside of the door or by a person inside of the vehicle extending his hand out through the window to engage the handle.

Another object is to provide a door handle structure of theabove character having the new and improved features of construction, arrangement and operation hereinafter described and for purposes of illustration but not of limitation, an embodiment of the invention is shown on the accompanying drawing in which l Figure 1 is a perspective View of a door latch unit showing the new and improved handle assembly connected thereto;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional elevation ci a portion of an automobile door showing the handle structure mounted thereon;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional elevation of a portion of the handle structure show ing the handle parts in their outward position or in 'position of use;

Fig. 4 is a composite perspective view of the dog and its actuating member which is adapted to hold the handle shaft in its inward position, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional View on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, taken through the outer panel of the door showing the pocket or socket into which the handle is forced.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a door latch having a case plate lil over which the bolt plate |I is suitably guided, the bolt plate having the usual latch nose I2 which extends through an opening in the case plate flange I3. A spiral spring |4 has one end fixed to the case plate I0 and its opposite end bears against the bolt plate Il, urging the latter into latching position. Rising from the bolt plate is an arm I5 which is engageable by the usual 50 roll back I6 to enable the bolt to be retracted from the outside of the door as will be readily understood. Retraction of the bolt from the inside of the door is effected byremote control mechanism (not shown), connected to the outer end of the bolt plate. The above structure is well-known to those skilled in this art and forms no part of the present invention.

The roll back I6 is secured by a pin I1 to a squared o1 non-circular shaft |8 which extends through a similarly shaped opening in the head |9 of a tubular handle shaft 2U. In screw-threaded engagement with the outer end of the handle shaft is a handle 2| which is held against unscrewing by a screw 2 Ie. The handle 2| is adapted to be disposed in a socket 22 so that its outer surface is flush or substantially ilush with the outer side of a door D as shown in Fig. 2. It will be apparent that when the handle is not in use., it will lie snugly in its socket 22 so that the door can not be readily broken into and also it is of advantage when the automobile is in motion since it removes a projecting part which has, in the past, caused many serious injuries. In this instance, the socket member 22 is a separate part, tting into an opening in the outside panel of the door and is clamped in place by tongues 22a which engage the inside of such panel and a flange 22b on the outside thereof.

` Formed on the outer end of the roll back shaft I8 is a collar 23 and interposed between the co1- lar 23 and the handle 2| is a coil spring 24, which is compressed when the handle is in its inward or inoperative position and which urges the handle outward to the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2 and by full lines in Fig. 3, when the handle shaft 2D is released.

The handle shaft 20 telescopes with and has bearing in a bearing sleeve 25 which is suitably secured to the door D to hold it in stationary position andan enlargement '26 is'formed o-n the inner end oi the bearing sleeve 25. Formed in the enlargement is a socket 21 to receive a dog 28 which is slidable radially in the enlargement 26. Formed on the inner end of the handle shaft 2D is an annular groove 29 into which the dog 28 is adapted to extend when the handle shaft is forced inwardly to its innermost position, thereby to hold the handle shaft in its .inward or inoperative position. The inner end vof the enlargement 26 is socketed to receive a hub 30 of the roll back It and the central portion of the roll back I6 on one side is socketed to receive the head I9 of the handle shaft 20. The head |9 is provided with an annular beveled surface 3| for a purpose which will hereinafter appear.

The dog 28 is formed with a T slot 3| to receive a T-shaped actuating member 32 on the sternV4 of which is disposed a coil spring 33. The stem of the actuating member 32 extends outwardly from the socket 2l through a cover plate 34 and into ends of which bear against screw caps 4|.

engagement with an operating slide 35, a nut 3B engages the outer end of the stem of the actuator 32 for retaining the same in position.

Spaced longitudinally from the enlargement 25 is an enlargement 31 of the bearing sleeve 25. The enlargement 31 is provided with diametrioally opposed sockets 3S to receive balls 39 which are spring pressed by coil springs 40, the outer Normally or when the handle shaft 2!! is in its inward position, the balls 49 engage in an annular groove 42 formed on the outer side of the shaft 2U. When the dog 28 is released or movedaway from the shaft 2li to allow the spring 24 to force the handle shaft outwardly, the outward movement is limited by the collar 23 which is engaged by the head i8 and when in that position, the balls 3S engage in the annular groove 29 as shown in Fig. 3. When in that position, it will be observed that the handle shaft 2S has a substantial bearing in the bearing sleeve 25, thereby preventing wabbling of the handle when in use. The spring pressed balls 3S assist in holding the handle shaft in its outward position and provide an anti-friction bearing for the shaft.

When it is desired, the handle can be readily pushed in towards the door D without any difficulty, the beveled surface 3! engages the dog 33 and cams it out of the vway to allow the handle shaft to be pushed inwardly to its fullest extent and to the point that the dog 23 engages in the groove 29. In this position, the handle 2| is disposed within the socket member 22 substantially as shown in Fig. 2.

Release of the dog 28 can be readily effected from either side of the door. A finger 43 projects through a slot 44 in the inside of the door. The finger 43 forms a part of the slide 35 so that by lifting or pushing upwardly on the finger 43, the dog 28 will be lifted away from the handle shaft 2&3. Actuation of the dog from the outside of the door is effected by means of the key 45 which engages a cylinder lock 46 from which eX- tends a spindle ill. The inner end of the spindle extends into an opening 48 formed in the slide 35 and projecting from the inner end of the spindle 4'! is a lug 4.9 which is adapted to engage one side or the other of the opening 48 to move the slide 35 in one direction or the other. In this manner, the slide 35 may be readily released by turning of the key 45 to lift the dog out of engagement with the handle shaft 20. The arrangement should be such that the key 45 can not be withdrawn from the lock 46 until the projection l is moved to such position that the dog 28 can be actuated by the spring 33 to operative position.

Numerous changes in details of construction, arrangement and operation may be effected without departing from the spirit of the invention, especially as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A handle structure for a vehicle door latch comprising a stationary bearing sleeve, an axially movable tubular handle shaft fitting said bearing sleeve, a handle on the outer end of said shaft, manually releasable means carried by said bearing sleeve for holding said handle shaft in its inward position, said releasable means comprising a spring presseddog and an annular groove in said handle vshaft to receive said dog, a latch operating shaft fitting inside' of said handle shaft, said operating shaft being rotatable with said handle shaft and enabling longitudinal movement of the handle shaft relative thereto, spring means urging the handle shaft outwardly of said bearing sleeve, spring pressed bearing elements carried bysaid lbearing sleeve and engageable in saidrannular groove for holding said shaft in its outwardpositio'n and being automatically releasable upon an inward push on the handle, and stop means for limiting the outward movement of said handle shaft at such point as to enable said handle shaft to have substantial bearing in said bearing sleeve, thereby to prevent wabbling of the handle' when inuse.

- 2. A handle structure for a vehicle door latch' comprising a stationary bearing sleeve, an axially movable tubular handle shaft tting said bearing sleeve, a handle on the outer end of said shaft, manually releasable means carried by said bearing sleeve for holding said handle shaft in its inward position, said releasable means comprising a spring pressed dog and an annular groove in said handle shaft to receive said dog, a latch operating shaft fitting inside of said handle shaft, said operating shaft being non-circular in cross section and fitting a similarly shaped opening in one end of said handle shaft, spring means urging the handle shaft outwardly of said bearing sleeve, spring pressed bearing elements carried by said bearing sleeve and engageable in said annular groove for holding said shaft in its out- Ward position and being automatically releasable upon an inward push on the handle, stop means for limiting the outward movement of said handle shaft at such point as to enable said handle shaft to have substantial bearing in said bearing sleeve, thereby to prevent wabbling of the handle when in use, and means including a finger piece engageable from the inside of the door for lifting said dog out of dogging position.

3. A handle structure for a vehicle door latch comprising a stationary bearing sleeve, an axially movable tubular handle shaft fitting said bearing sleeve, a handle on the outer end of said shaft, manually releasable means carried by said bearing sleeve for holding said handle shaft in its inward position, said releasable means comprising a spring pressed dog and an annular groove in said handle shaft to receive said dog, a latch operating shaft being non-circular in crossrsection and fitting a similarly shaped opening in one end of said handle shaft, spring means urging the handle shaft outwardly of said bearing sleeve, spring pressed bearing elements carried by said bearing sleeve and engageable in said annular groove for holding said shaft in its outward position and being automatically releasable upon an inward push on the handle, stop means for limiting the outward movement of said handle shaft at such point as to enable said handle shaft to have substantial bearing in said bearing sleeve, thereby to prevent wabbling of the handle when in use, and a slide for releasing said dog from dogging position.

LAKE E, CLINKER. 

